I am not injury prone, says Manchester United's new No7 Michael Owen

The Manchester United striker Michael Owen defends his injury record at a press conference after being unveiled as the new holder of the No7 shirt, worn previously by Ronaldo, David Beckham, Eric Cantona and George Best. Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Michael Owen has been given Cristiano Ronaldo's No7 shirt at Manchester United and the former England striker responded today with an impassioned speech aimed at quelling the persistent doubts surrounding his injury problems. Owen was noticeably aggrieved as he talked of his "injury-prone" tag "getting up my nose more than anything else".

Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, has given Owen the number once worn by David Beckham, Eric Cantona and George Best partly to protect Luis Antonio Valencia, the £17m recruit from Wigan Athletic, from comparisons with Ronaldo but also to help invigorate a player who was widely considered to be on the wane before his free transfer to Old Trafford.

Owen was made one of the scapegoats for Newcastle United's relegation last season and suffered the ignominy of the Blackburn Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce, and Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, saying they had no interest in signing him because of his injury record. "If there is one thing that has angered me a bit it is this thing that I am 'injury-prone,'" Owen said. "You constantly read 'he's been plagued with injuries' and things like that but the facts just don't support it.

"It does irritate me that so many people have doubts," he said. "I played 32 games last season and 33 games in the season before that, for a club that was not in Europe and didn't have any long cup runs. The Premier League season is only 38 games so I think 32 and 33 appearances isn't too bad."

Owen continued: "Yes, in the previous two years I was injured but they were nothing to do with being 'injury-prone'. If someone jumps on your foot and your metatarsal breaks there's not much you can do. Foolishly I tried to rush back to get back fit for the World Cup in 2006. My knee went and those injuries count for two years. But I don't believe I'm injury-prone. I'm 29 now and I've played over 500 games for club and country, so that says it all."

He added: "In certain parts people do have a justification to have a go at me. I didn't set the world alight in the last year at Newcastle. That is no one's fault but mine. We were not playing well as a team and I wasn't doing my bit either."

Whelan had also questioned Owen's commitment to the game, pointing out the amount of time the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker indulged in his passion for racehorses. "It doesn't hurt me when I know it isn't true," Owen responded. "It's the injury thing that gets up my nose more than anything else. Yes, I pick up an injury here and there but that is the rigours of the modern-day game."